| Season: | 1987 |
| Competition: | National Soccer League |
| Winners: | APIA Leichhardt 1st title |
| Relegated: | Heidelberg United |
| Matches: | 162 |
| Total Goals: | 391 |
| League Topscorer Section: | Top scorers |
| League Topscorer: | Frank Farina (18 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (29 March 1987) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (11 October 1987) |
| Highest Scoring: | (10 May 1987) |
| Highest Attendance: | 9,000 (24 May 1987) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 400 (27 September 1987) |
| Prevseason: | 1986 |
| Nextseason: | 1988 |
| Attendance: | 500,763 |
| Average Attendance: | 3,091 |
The 1987 National Soccer League season was the 11th season of the National Soccer League, the former top Australian professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1977. The season saw the format returned to a single league of fourteen teams instead of the two-conference system. Sydney City SC withdrew from the competition after round 1, reducing the competition to 13 teams. The finals series for the Championship was also removed and replaced with the standard non-Championship defining play-offs with the actual Championship determined by a first past the post, won by APIA Leichhardt.
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
A top five Finals series was played at the end of the regular season. The Finals series was not considered the Championship for this season.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield | 16 |
| 2 | Rod Brown | APIA Leichhardt | 14 |
| 3 | Paul Lewis | Melbourne Croatia | 10 |
| Steve Smith | Preston Makedonia | ||
| 5 | Joe Mullen | Adelaide City | 9 |
| Robbie Slater | Sydney Croatia | ||
| Charlie Villani | Adelaide City | ||
| 8 | Ron Campbell | Preston Makedonia | 8 |
| John Markovski | Sunshine George Cross | ||
| Paul Wade | South Melbourne |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robbie Slater | Sydney Croatia | Melbourne Croatia | 6–1 (H) | 29 March 1987 | |
| Frank McGrellis | Brunswick Juventus | Heidelberg United | 3–1 (H) | 5 July 1987 | |
| Paul Trimboli | Sunshine George Cross | South Melbourne | 3–0 (H) | 19 July 1987 | |
| Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield | Heidelberg United | 5–1 (A) | 9 August 1987 | |
| Goce Dimovski | Preston Makedonia | APIA Leichhardt | 4–0 (H) | 13 September 1987 | |
| Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield | Sydney Croatia | 5–0 (A) | 11 October 1987 |
| Award | Winner | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Referee's Player of the Year | Andrew Zinni | Brunswick Juventus | |
| Player's Player of the Year | Frank Farina | Marconi Fairfield | |
| U-21 Player of the Year | John Markovski | Sunshine George Cross | |
| Coach of the Year | Rale Rasic | APIA Leichhardt |